This picture was taken in my village home's backyard earlier this year. Although the term peacock is generally used to refer to both males and females, the proper name of the species is Indian Peafowl. The most obvious difference between male and female Indian Peafowl is the colour of their plumage. Males are usually an iridescent shade of bright blue. Females, on the other hand, have much more subdued plumage. Their feathers tend to be either brown, grey or cream in colour. Females have white bellies, while males' bellies are the same blue as the rest of their plumage. Bearing these details in mind, one can tell that the bird on the right is a male the one on the left is a female.
Male peafowl are distinguished by their enormous tail feathers. They can fan out these feathers to display to females during mating season. Peacocks moult their tail feathers around January each year, but rapidly regrow them by June. As is evident in the picture, which was taken in the month of February, the male peafowlג€™s feathers are not fully regrown.